Examining Collaboration in Teacher Preparation and Clinical Practice

Abstract

ABSTRACTCollaboration among educators is a vital component for teachers’ success working with diverse students. Teacher preparation programs, however, have not sufficiently included experiences in which teacher candidates can learn about professional collaboration in preparation for clinical and professional experiences. In this article, the authors describe the experiences from two pairs of teacher candidates—one pair who completed a cotaught teacher preparation course focused on collaboration, and the other pair who did not. The authors used interviews, observations, and content analysis of candidate artifacts to examine these experiences within the framework of symbolic interactionism. Findings suggest differences between these pairs of teacher candidates related to how they understood and managed collaborative situations. Implications for teacher preparation and clinical practice are included.